Aphex Twin’s first release in 13 years is as warping and mind-bending as you’d expect

In mid-August, an innocent yellow blimp traversed the London sky baring an Aphex Twin logo and the numbers “2014.” Who would have thought that a mere three weeks later we’d be hearing the first Aphex Twin single in 13 years? The whole ordeal is a rather unlikely scenario, yet it’s just up to par with the unpredictability of Richard D. James.

The first single from his new album Syro is “minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix],” an eerie, glitched-out breaks track with enough variation to keep even the snobbiest Warp fan satisfied. From a sound design perspective, it’s as impressive as ever. Strange off-color melodies find themselves colliding with even stranger percussion. James’ own voice filters in out, distorted and processed nearly beyond recognition. There’s a calculated dissonance to the track — a conscious effort to perplex and perturb rather than enrapture with harmony. It’s the kind of song that requires multiple listens to fully digest — yet therein lies the genius.